>I see nothing > wrong with pointing to Saddam and saying that he was doing extremely evil > things. But the next step that we have take as a national policy, which >is to say that they are evil and we are good, seems to me is hubris of the most > dangerous kind. It is nationalistic idolatry. We are not the good.
Actually, that's not what Bush is saying. That would be idolatry, I agree. Rather, Bush is saying the world is full of freedom loving people. Some scoundrels, like Saddam, have gotten power over them. We have the chance to help them get on their feet and be truly free....to determine their own fate. Our method of government is superior to Saddam's, but the Iraqi people are just like us, freedom loving people. Only they've been horribly oppressed. He does talk about evil-doers. But, it is clear that he is focused on the actual members of AQ, Hussein and his henchmen, etc....not the whole people of the middle East. In short, he has drawn a line between dictators, terrorists and their cronies and everyone else. I do think he has made a couple of mistakes in how he does this. There is a tendency to take a WWF attitude towards things...what one does to bad guys is OK because we know who are the good guys and the bad guys. One draws fine distinctions between "advance stress" and "torture" and crosses bright lines that the military has had in place for very good reasons. The second is that he seems to think that God makes everything work out for those trying to be faithful to a call. I sincerely think that Bush thinks God's will for the world is a prosperous world filled with people living in peace and freedom everywhere. God has blessed us with stewardship over earthly power and it is our responsibility to use that power towards God's end. So far, I don't have a problem with this. The next step is the view that, so long as we are faithful, God will smooth the path. In some ways, I see Bush as very much like the clergy who thought that through legal proceedings we could cause the downfall of Hussein. If we are only faithful, God will ensure that we will succeed. I don't think this is sound. But, if this type of criticism of the activities of the US were made by those who are uncomfortable with aspects of our actions, then I think it would be much easier to find common ground. As it stands, the marches of the anti-war movement looks to those supporting the war as accusing them of being duped pawns, evil, money-grubbing, or combinations thereof. Insulting one's fellow countrymen that way is not a good way to start dialog. Again, I'm not accusing you of this, I realize you want to stay away from that sort of self righteousness. I'm merely making suggestions for things that might have the potential to improve the chance for dialog. Dan M. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
